3784 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 16 / Monday, January 26, 1998 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[Docket No. MARAD–98–3330]

Information Collection Available for

Public Comments and

Recommendations

ACTION: Notice and Request for

Comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 this

notice announces the Maritime

Administration’s (MARAD’s) intentions

to request extension of approval for

three years of a currently approved

information collection.

DATES: Comments should be submitted

on or before March 27, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patricia Ann Thomas, Office of

Maritime Labor, Training and Safety,

MAR–250, Room 7302, 400 Seventh

Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590.

Telephone number 202–366–2646 or fax

number 202–493–2288. Copies of this

collection can also be obtained from that

office.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title of Collection: Merchant Marine

Medals and Awards.

Type of Request: Extension of a

currently approved information

collection.

OMB Control Number: 2133–0506.

Form Number: No form is required for

this collection.

Expiration Date of Approval:

September 30, 1998.

Summary of Collection of

Information: This information collection

provides the Maritime Administration

with a method for documenting and

processing requests for merchant marine

medals and decorations to masters,

officers, and crew members of U.S.

ships in recognition of their service in

areas of danger during World War II,

Korean War, Vietnam War and

Operation DESERT STORM and the

replacement of previously issued

awards.

Need and Use of the Information: The

information collection is used by

MARAD personnel to process and verify

requests for service awards. The

issuance of awards is based upon

requests from the public.

Description of Respondents: Eligible

merchant seamen.

Annual Responses: 2500 responses.

Annual Burden: 2500 hours.

Comments: Signed, written comments

should refer to the docket number that

appears at the top of this document and

must be submitted to the Docket Clerk,

U.S. DOT Dockets, Room PL–401, 400

Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C.

20590–0001. Specifically, address

whether this information collection is

necessary for proper performance of the

function of the agency and will have

practical utility, accuracy of the burden

estimates, ways to minimize this

burden, and ways to enhance quality,

utility, and clarity of the information to

be collected. All comments received

will be available for examination at the

above address between 10 a.m. and 5

p.m., e.t. Monday through Friday,

except Federal Holidays. An electronic

version of this document is available on

the World Wide Web at http:/

dms.dot.gov.

Dated: January 20, 1998.

By Order of the Maritime Administrator.

Joel C. Richard,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–1710 Filed 1–23–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–81–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA–97–3122; Notice 2]

Dan Hill & Associates, Inc.; Grant of

Application for Temporary Exemption

From Federal Motor Vehicle Safety

Standard No. 224

This document grants the application

by Dan Hill & Associates, Inc., of

Norman, Oklahoma, for a one-year

temporary exemption from Motor

Vehicle Safety Standard No. 224 Rear

Impact Protection. The basis of the

application was that compliance would

cause substantial economic hardship to

a manufacturer that has tried in good

faith to comply with the standard.

Notice of receipt of the application

was published on November 21, 1997,

and an opportunity afforded for

comment (62 FR 62398).

The applicant manufactures and sells

a horizontal discharge trailer (‘‘Flow

Boy’’) that is used in the road

construction industry to deliver asphalt

and other road building materials to the

construction site. The Flow Boy is

designed to connect with and latch onto

various paving machines (‘‘pavers’’).

The Flow Boy, with its hydraulically

controlled horizontal discharge system,

discharges hot mix asphalt at a

controlled rate into a paver which

overlays the road surface with asphalt

material.

Standard No. 224 requires, effective

January 26, 1998, that all trailers with a

GVWR of 4536 Kg or more, including

Flow Boy trailers, be fitted with a rear

impact guard that conforms to Standard

No. 223 Rear impact guards. Installation

of the rear impact guard will prevent the

Flow Boy from connecting to the paver.

Thus, Flow Boy trailers will no longer

be functional and contractors will be

forced to use standard dump body

trucks or trailers with their inherent

limitations.

The applicant, which manufactured

81 Flow Boy trailers in 1996 (plus 21

other trailers), asked for a one-year

exemption in order to explore the

feasibility of a rear impact guard that

will allow the Flow Boy trailer to

connect to a conventional paver. In the

absence of an exemption, it believes that

approximately 60 percent of its work

force would have to be laid off. Its gross

revenues would decrease by $6,000,000

(these have averaged $13,885,000 over

its 1994, 1995, and 1996 fiscal years).

Present studies show that the placement

of the retractable rear impact guard

would likely catch excess asphalt as it

was discharged into the pavement

hopper. Further, the increased cost of

the Flow Body would likely cause

contractors to choose the cheaper

alternative of dump trucks. Finally, the

applicant asserted that the increased

weight of the retractable rear impact

guard would significantly decrease the

payload of the Flow Boy.

Applicant sent its Product Specialist

to Germany in 1994 to view underride

protection guards installed by a German

customer on Flow Boy trailers but the

technology proved inapplicable because

of differences between German and

American pavers. Manufacturers of

paving machines are not interested in

redesigning their equipment to

accommodate a Flow Boy with a rear

impact guard. The applicant has

contacted a British manufacturer of a

retractable rear impact guard but the

information received to date does not

look encouraging. If an exemption is

granted, the applicant will continue to

explore the feasibility of a retractable

rear guard that allows connection with

a paver.

The applicant believes that an

exemption would be in the public

interest and consistent with traffic

safety objectives because the Flow Boy

aids in the construction of the national

road system. It spends very little of its

operating life on the highway and the

likelihood of its being involved in a

rear-end collision is minimal. In

addition, the design of the Flow Boy is

such that the rear tires act as a buffer

and reduce the likelihood of impact

with the trailer.

No comments were received in

response to the Federal Register notice.